1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tow bars, and in particular to a tow bar for tricycle or bicycle.
2. Background of the Invention
Small children typically ride tricycles before attempting to learn how to ride a bicycle. A common problem associated with taking a child out riding on his or her tricycle is the slow speed typically achievable by a young tricycle rider. This can slow down the adults and larger children on the outing.
Another problem is that young children tend to tire easily. Thus, it would be desirable to have some species of tow bar to pull a child on his or her tricycle along, so that the child on the tricycle may have a chance to rest.
Existing Designs
One commercially available design involves pushing a tricycle with an elongate member. This design requires that the tricycle being pushed have been manufactured with docking provisions for one end of the elongate member. This design is not retrofittable to existing tricycles, and suffers from complexity, and thus higher cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,479 was issued Tibay et al. for another push design, which involved mating one end of a rigid elongate member with the rear deck of a tricycle. This design also required that the tricycle have a deck to which one end of the elongate pushing member could be docked, which is not possible with all existent tricycle designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,645,505 was issued Dorand for a combination pulling member and brake for a tricycle. While this design provided greater stability and utility than the push designs, it required special tools to be mounted to the front of the tricycle, and was not easily retrofittable to every tricycle design.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an easily installed and removed tow bar for tricycles with universal applicability to existing tricycles.